Device for saving liquid fuels and the like



May s, 1928. 1,669,067

L. D. PASTORE DEVICE FOR SAVING LIQUID FUELS AND THE LIKE Filed March 25. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

, r \i v Mrmza [Myra/w Zw tare,

May 8, 1928.

L. D. PASTORE DEVICE FOR SAVING LIQUID FUELS AND THE LIKE Filed March 25. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lll W llfii P'atented May 7 8, 1928 i UNITED STAT S LORENZO nnsnrno or BuEnos AIRES, ARGENTINA.

DEVICE non snvi ier mourn runes nn THE LIKE.

Applicationfiled March 25, 1326, Serial No. 97AM, and in Argentina January 19, 1926,

This l!i\l-.:l( l1 relates to an improred process for saving the larger partof liquid fuel contained in tanks or similar reservoirs, located either above or below the ground, when a fire has broken out therein. 1 have found that it is unnecessary to construct special tight tanhsor reservoirs for the storage of liquid fuels and. the like and in case of. fire to be compelled to extinguish it by systems based on the principles governing combustion. In view of my studies and experiments, I find that in case of burning liquid fuels it will be 'sufiicient to cause the fuel to pass through a duct or pipe which should be entirely filled with the fiuid. The requirement that the liquid shall occupy the entire cross section of the outlet duct or pipe, is unnecessary when the pipe has a considerable length since then its rather long travel in the pipe will cause the free space therein to be filled with its own vapors which will prevent the presence of the necessary amount of air for 'allowing the combustion .to continue. Thus the liquid which enters the pipe in a flaming condition, will issue'completely extinguished at the outlet. In case of the storage of a considerable quantity of liquid,

the fire will continue toburn on its Surface but the'quantity below the surface will be saved by draining the fluid away by means of open or closed channels.

In fact, any fluid, no matter what may be its degree of inflami'nability and the magnitude of the fire, can onlyburn on itssurface where it is in contact with the air. Therefore, when a large or small quantity of liquid fuel or other combustible liquid has caught on fire, it will be possible, while its surface is burningto drain ofii or lead away allthe liquid located beneath said superficial zone of fire by simply causing the same to pass through a duct or pipe which will be completely filled, or if not, then 'provided said duct is of a sufiicient length the liquid will appear at the other end of the duct completely and absolutely extinguished.

I desire it to be particularly understood that one of the essential -features of my invention consists in the fact that there is always interposed betweenthe surface of the burning liquid and the surface of the liquid which is saved, a quantity of the same liquid in a completely extinguished condition, such quantity of liquid acting as a separating stop or seal between the burning surface and the surface of the ,liquidwhich has been saved;

It will be evident that this the completeextinction of the fire is also readily accomphshed, since within a short" time 110 fuel willremain in the burning zone within the reservolr. p I i The speed with which the fire may be extinguished can readily be regulated by deter-.

mining the 'crosssectional area of the outlet orifice of the reservoir.

A convenient form of construction of my inventionhas been shown, byway of example, onthe accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate similar parts in allthe different views.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic viewfof a fire protecting system for fourreservoirs containing oil, naphtha, kerosene or the like;f

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of one of the reservoirs, taken on line 'I-II III, of

Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a. detailed valve construction; V e i Fig. at is a top view of a modified automatic valve operator; 3

Fig. 5 isfa sectional view of a pipe construction; and m e y e Fig. 6 is atop view of the pipe construction of Fig. 5.

A. indicates the reservoirs located on, elevated positiointhe series of reservoirs being surrounded by the usual embankment J which forms a confinement and prevents the flaming liquid from flowing out in case of fire and bursting of onset the reservoirs. In accordance withv this invention, an em.- baukment J is provided'for each reservoir in order to form a supplementary reservoir. or safety container, of funnel shape .w1th1n WlllClllS situated a reservoir. Each of sald' reservoirs or tanks is providedwith a duct or pipe G, opening into a main duct or pipe B,

ofsuificientlengthto allow the liquid to be conveyed in an entirely extinguished condition tea location sufiieiently distant and free from the dangers of the fire.v The collecting duct 13 maybe omitted in plants of minor importance.

It will be evident that instead of the four reservoirs shown in the drawings, any convenient or desired number of tanks may be protected by the above described means ar ranged with their respective embanlnnents and provided with the collector pipes B.

At a point intermediate its length, each duct or pipe C is provided with a stop valve D, arranged to open automatically as soon as fire breaks out in the reservoir A to which it is connected.

Figure 2 clearly illustrates the manner of operating said valve. On the outbreak of a fire in the tank A, the fasteningdevice F which may be located on the top of the reservoir or as shown in Fig. 2 and may be constructed of any suitable material, melts or is destroyed by heat or direct tire. The rope G is thereby detached and the spring V released. Instead of a spring, the descent of a weight might also be used for operating a severing device or knife Y for cutting the rope Z and to thus cause the descent of the part or' weight P. The weight of this latter piece is so determined that its fall will produce the necessary energy for breaking the diaphragms Q and Q, of glass, clay or other fragile material which in their normal or inoperative position establish a tight seal to prevent the tank or reservoir A from communicating with the collector B. When the part P falls and the diaphragms Q. and Q, are thereby broken, said part P and the fragments of glass fallinto the ditch or channel S and the liquid commences to discharge from the burning reservoir A through the ducts or pipes C and B which as already stated, will lead the liquid to a safe place. The two diaphragms not only prevent the liquid from reaching the collecting duct B, but also prevent it from entering the tube N within which descends the part P.

Fig. 3 illustrates a modified form of the valve D which opens automatically. In this form ofconstruction. by means of one single breakable seal or diaphragm 11, the interruption of communicatitm between the reservoir A and the tube N for the descent of the weight- P. and the end of the pipe C leading to pipe B, is obtained.

It will be evident that the valve D. above described, may be substituted by a cock of usual or known type, in which RS8 the descent of the weight 1 may operate a suitcause the liquid to pass from A to B.

As the level of the flaming liquid descends in the reservoir A, the tire also descends and at a given moment the combustible support or fuse T of the heavy lid U will be de stroyed and as said lid or cup is made of refractory material. it will descend by its own weight and thus obturate the inlet end of the pipe C, thereby automatically intercepting the communication between the reservoirs and the collecting duct B which leads the liquid out of. the range oi the tire and zone of danger.

Fig. 4 represents a diagrammatic plan View of the severing device or knife above referred to. As the fastening device F is destroyed by the tire or the action of heat and the spring V acts the speed of the rope will increase until the stop Vi abuts against the end of the knife Y which is thus forced with a considerable force against the rope Z srqiporting the part or weight l. The rope is thus severed and the part P falls. However, it may happen that the liquid may flow over, passing from the interior of A to the space confined within the surrounding embankment J and in order to save such overflowing liquid, 1 provide a supplementary duct M having a balanced valve a which will open when a sutlicient amount of fuel enters into the tube'M or inthe space surrounding the embankment J. 12 thus prevent the the from passing from the reservoir A to the collecting pipe The sinuous shape at 7) of the duct M has the purpose of preventing a smaller amount of flaming liquid from opening by its sudden descent and direct blow the valve (2 and thereby' allow the fire to reach the collector pipe ll.

An important feature of the plant is the device E, situated at the end of the collector pipe or pipes B. Said device consists of a container of cylindrical or other suitable shape (as shown in Fig. 5), without any cover at its top and into which discharge the lower ends of the ducts Before reaching the container E, the ducts B are curved, so as to form a siphon which serves to establish, by means of a height h of liquid (which before the tire may be water being, after wards replaced by an equal volume of the liquid which is being saved) a perfectly tight seal between the space destined to .receive the extinguished liquidand the collecting pipes 13. In the drawing. two collecting ducts B converge to the coi'itainer E. It should be noted that these siphons connected to the device E, constitute a supple montary safety device, since as" I have before explained and according to the basis of my theory, it will sufficient to arrange the ducts B or C so that they will always discharge at the lowest part of the space, tank or reservoir which is to receive the liquid. as by this means a portion of the extinguisher! liquid will always be interposed between the surface of said reservoir or the like which contains the salvaged liquid, and the surface of the burning liquid.

Special attention has also been paid to the arrangement of the discharge outlet of each reservoir A. Around the inlet funne a type of well or ditch (Z is provided for the purpose of preventing any solid or dense material contained in the mass of liquid or coming from the bottom of the reservoir I IS ti from gaining access to the inlet funnel and thence, to the pipe C. Such solid or dense [lumps of *mate'rial will therefore first lit descend to the bottom of the reservoir A andwill then be dragged slowly towards and remain in said ditch or well formedaround,

the inlet mouth of the duct C, thus avoiding the obstruction or clogging of this latter;

or outlet "for the discharge of the 1 gases or vapors carried along orproduced by the salvaged llqu-id WllICll, though completely e2;- t1ngu1shed,may be at a high temperatiu'e,

-Such outlet or discharging device mayv conveniently lead' to a gasometer placed at a suitable dlstance in order to prevent, in case of escapement of the gases,the same from coming into contact with the flaming matter of the fire zone.

It will be evident that an alarm circuit of venient places will be operated and the pcrsons in charge may proceed to open or close the valves, without necessity of waiting for their automatic operation.

It will also be understood that by means of my invention, liquids contained in reservoirs not provided with the particular de-- vices represented in the drawings, may be saved by simply boring by suitable means, in case of fire, a duct through the surrounding embankment and then lead the liquid to an other reservoir. This'clearly demonstrates the convenience of my system, as it doesnot require the use of special extinguishing means. On the other hand, the system in accordance with this invention has been devisedwith a view of eliminating, when desired, all complicated constructions; however,'any suitable or desired devices may be adopted within the scope of the invention to obtain the purposes set forth, that is, the conduction of the liquid by means of pipes or ducts completely occupied by the liquid led therethrough, or the extraction by means of channels or ducts of the extinguished liquid situated beneath the burning surface. 7

Thus the extinguished liquid might simply be pumped to a common reservoir at a high level, distant from the tanks A to be emptied, a suitable pumping plant being provided with motors to be operated according to well known methods and ready to start operating at the outbreak of fire or other danger with regard to any one of the tanks A, the pumps then performing the passage of the liquid in danger from the tanks A to the common reservoir.

The pumps may I be arranged to start operating automatically or may be in charge of special watchmen.

I claim as myiuve'ntionz 1. Apparatus for saving liquid fuel from a dangerous zone comprising a storage tank for the fuel; a'duct COIlllCtOdtOjtllO bottom i oft-he tankthrough whichthe fuel is adapted to hon to distant location; nieansin said tank pernuttmg the flow of fuel to be stopped when the level of the fuel in the tank decreaseswithin close proximitytothe bottomaand an embanlmient surrounding said tank and provided with a duct for the passage of fuel. 1

2. Apparatus for saving liquid fuel from a dangerous zone comprising a storage tank for the fuel; a duct] connected to the bottom of tlre tank through which the fuel is adaptcd to flow to a distant location; a normally cap-en. valve in said duct atthe bottom of a tank; a breakablesealfor closing the duct;

an cmbanlmient surrounding saidtank and provided w th a duct for the passage of fuel which may overflow the tank; and means in said embankment for breaking said seal controlled by heat at the top of the tank so that the fuel may flow out of the tank and to the distant location, said valve closing automatically under the action of heat when the level of the fuel in the tank reaches within close proximity thereto.

3'. Apparatus for saving liquid fuel from a dangerous zone comprising a storage tank for the fuel; a duct connected to the bottom of the tank through which the fuel is adapted to flow to a distant location; a normally open valve insaid duct at the bottom of the tank; a breakable seal for closing the duct; an embankment surrounding said tank and provided with a duct for the passage of fuel which may overflow the tank and also provided with a vertical passage therethrough; and a weight held in a suspended state in said passage for breaking said seal when heat at the top of the tank releases it so that the fuel may flow out of the tank through the duct and to the distant location, said valve closing automatically when released under the action of heat when the level of the fuel in the tank reaches within close. proximity thereto.

4. An installation for saving inflammable liquids stored in tanks,.comprising means constituting an evacuatingorifice in the lower part of the tank for the liquid to be saved: a weighted valve suspended by a fusible support over said evacuating orifice, said valve being adapted to fall and close the orifice whenthe liquid level has fallen sufficiently to permit the heat of the burning liquid to melt the support; a conduit for iiquid is heated to said dangerous tempera tr re 5. fin installation "For saving inflammable liquids stored in tanks COHlpl'iSlDg means constituting an evacuating orifice and a collecting cavit for heavy materials surrounding the evacuation conduit in the lower part of the tank: a conical weighted valve over the evacuation orifice; a fusible support for said valve; a weighted valve in said evacuation conduit, said valve being constituted by a membrane of breakable material; a weight suspended over said membrane; a knife device for cutting the susgension cable of the weight: and a knife in said device which is actuated by a spring which is freed when the tank temperature becomes dangerous.

8. An installation tor saving inflammable liquids i'itored in tanks comprising means constituting an evacuating orifice and a 001- tank said valve; a weighted valve in said evacuation conduit, said valve being constituted. by a. membrane of break: ble material; a weight suspended over said membrane; a knife device for cutting the suspension cable of the weight; a knife in said, device which :is aetu- I ated by a spring which is "freed when the temperature becomes dangerous; a chamber beneath the breakable. valve; a terrace about the tank to be protected; and

secondary conduits from within the ter race to the breakable valve aforesaid, said secondarx conduits being sinuous along their length and having; counterweighted valves at their lower ends, to prevent-said conduits 'i'rom passing burning liquid before their transverse sections are filled.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LORENZO DAGNINO riis'rfonn 

